-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Champions League holders Barcelona survived a scare in Germany on Tuesday evening as Zlatan Ibrahimovic 's second-half equalizer earned them a 1-1 last 16 first leg draw against Stuttgart .

The Catalan giants failed to produce the free-flowing football that has become their trademark under coach Pep Guardiola and they fell behind in the 25th minute .

Stuttgart had warmed up for the match by hitting five goals past Cologne at the weekend , with striker Cacau helping himself to four of them .

And the Brazilian-born forward maintained that form by opening the scoring here , powerfully heading home Timo Gebhart 's cross .

The home side had chances to double their lead before the break , with only goalkeeper Victor Valdes depriving Cacau of a second -- although Lionel Messi did strike the post with a long-range effort for the visitors .

However , Barca regrouped after the break and levelled just seven minutes into the second period , when Swedish striker Ibrahimovic was on hand to finish from Gerard Pique 's nod down .

The result means Barcelona will be strong favorites to reach the quarterfinals when the teams meet again at the Nou Camp in a fortnight 's time .

Meanwhile , in the night 's other match , Bordeaux look well set to reach the quarterfinals after a narrow 1-0 victory against Olympiacos in Athens .

Laurent Blanc 's side are unbeaten in the competition this season and look genuine contenders to win the trophy after Michael Ciani nodded home Yoann 's Gourcouff 's free-kick from close range on the stroke of half time .

In the only Europa League match played in Tuesday , Portuguese giants Benfica cruised into the last 16 after thrashing Hertha Berlin 4-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory .

Two goals from oscar Cardozo and one apiece from Pablo Aimar and Javi Garcia ensured Benfica 's smooth progress , where they will now face either Marseille or FC Copenhagen .

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Barcelona fight back to earn a 1-1 Champions League draw in Stuttgart

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic levels for the holders after Cacau put the Bundesliga side ahead

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Bordeaux secure a narrow 1-0 win in Athens against Olympiacos in the other last 16 match